Cotton chopper and cultivator



Feb. 28, 1933. c. v; JONES COTTON cHoPPER AND GULTIVATOR 4 sheets-sheet 1 Filed June 4, 1952 @WX/mau Feb. 28, 1933. c. v. JONES COTTON CHOPPER AND CULTIVATOR Filed June 4, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 gmc/wm CCKJoneS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Feb- 28, 1933. c. v. JONES COTTON cHoPPER AND CULTIVATOR Filed June 4, 1952 gmc/who@ CIJnes Feb. 28, 1933. c, vI .JONES COTTON CHOPPEH AND CULTIVATOR Filed June 4, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 rlnlllllllll gmc/Wto@ C. dmes Patented Feb. 28, 1933 PATENT OFFICE t `oInlIUnIr-Is v. JONES, OP JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, AssreNoPc` OF ONETIIAIQP "ro Houma!)A o. FERGUSON, OF JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI Y y y l l Application led JuneA 4,

This invention relates to a cotton chopper and cultivator, and has for its object to provide a machine of such class, in a manner as hereinafter set forth for expeditiously and` paratively simple mits-construction and ar-V rangement, rstrong, durable, compact, thoroughly efficient in its use, readily assembled,v conveniently adjusted when desired and comparatively inexpensive to set up.

struction, combination and arran ement of parts as hereinafter more speci cally described, and illustrated in the accompanying 2o; drawings lwherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood.v

that changges,"variations` and modifications can be'resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts 1rons constructed in a mannerto provide'a throughout the several views Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in plan of a cotton chopper and cultivator inaccordance 'with this invention. f 4 l. i

Figure 2 is a side elevation thereof partly in section. l

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view thereof.` 1

Figure 4 is a vrearelevation partly insection.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary view,in front elevation illustrating the chopper element and its actuating'means. i

Figure 6 l1s a section Online 6--6, Figure ,3; Figure 7 1s a Section on line 7-7',F1gure 3;

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view in plan illustrating a connecting means betweenthe. chopper element carrying frame and thelaxle of the machine. f A combined cotton chopper and cultivating machine, in `accordance with this invention comprises a supporting frame which is mounted upon an axle 1 provided with a pair of wheels 2, 3. The axle 1 carries: a pair of reference characters 7,8 respectively. With the foregoingv and ther objects 1n view, the invention consists of the novely con- I 13. The other channel iron is bent/'to protending through the slots 17 and engaging cal leg 19 and a horizontally disposed leg 2O,r

1932. Serial No.y 615,449.-

connectingmembers 4, 5 which aresecured to the -supporting frame by ,thefholdfastv dei vices 6. `The connectingl memberscouple the, supporting frame with the axle 1 ina manner j to permita swingingmovement of the .Supl

, porting frame relative to the axle 1 whenthe frame'isfelevated, 'in a manner `as hereinafter: referred to from'the front end thereof and which. also applies whenglowering the front end of theframe. v '66 The sup'portingframev comprises `a lpointed y or V-shaped forward section and a rectanguf lar rear section referredto generally bythe-V.

The section 7 isconstructed from an angle pair z of oppositely f extending inclined por 'A tions 9, 10 coupled together at their forward"u y Y. ends by a roundedfportionll.; The portion 9,2 as well as the portion 10 terminates'in a 7'0 'il rearwardly extending right angularly dis-. posed portion 12. The portions 12 are ara ranged in parallelism.. The portions 9v and 10 extend forwardly and at an inward in'- clination with respect to the portions `12. Y 75 The section 8 comprisesa pairofchannel rectangular frame. ,One ofthe channel irons is the rear bar of the frame and indicated at y B0, vide the sidev members 14, `15 and the front v member A16 ,of the frame. `.The side members 14, 15 land front member 16 of. the Asection 8 are positioned `uponl the I portions `12l of the section 7. The bottoms of theside members 14, 15 at the forward terminal portions thereof,'are provided with lengthwisev disposed slots, best shown in Figures -l'and 3,'and VeX- with the portions V12 ofthe frame 7 are hold-An Ving devices 18'for adjustably connectingthe l section7 tothe section 8. The angle bar from which theffse'ction 7 is constructed is so dis i l posed, in vertical section to provide avertithe latter extending inwardly Vfrom the top ofthe former, see Figure rllheholdingv devices 18 are connected to the horizontal leg 20Of the section 7. j v i The rear bar'ormember'l` of the section'f8y 100 e5 bar 4of appropriate length bentfto provide a;

is connected tothe sidemembers14 and 15 Vof said section 8 by corner pieces 21 and'sesupporting frame are two sets of cultivator..

cured to'said rear member 13 is a pair of spaced forwardly extending arms 22 having enlarged forward endsy 23 provided withY openings 24. Secured to the rear member 13 of the section 8v isa seat post 25 having -attached to its upper end a seat 26. The post 25 extends rearwardly at an inclination with respect to the rearbar 13 of the section8.

Depending vfrom the front section 7 of the teeth or shovels and a set of cultivating discs. As illustrated the number of teeth orfshovels of each set is two, but this number can be in- Vcreased if desired. .The'number of'cultivator Y 3,0; merges into a circular he-ad34 provided with vby'a `hanger 41. The hanger41 is formed in' 4Q11Theupperwend of the hanger 41"V is providedl discs-of a set-is two.' The cultiva-tor teethy or Vshovel'sfof` one set are lindicated-atV 29'and those of the other-set'at-30. "The cultivating discs of a set are indicatedrat 31. The culti*- vator teethorshovels, as 'well' as the discs,

are angularly adjustable with respect tothe section7. As the cultivator teeth or shovels are of thesame construction, but onefwill be 25. described as the description of one will vapply tothe other. Each cultivator disc-or shovel consists of a tooth orshovel portion "32V hav-` f ingformed integral therewith `a curved re- V silientV shanlr 33,V which atits upper end an axialopening 35 andhaving its lower face toothed as at 36. .Each disc of a v'set of. discs consists of ya circular body portion 37 provided witha cutting edge 38. Y The body vpor- ;tion 37 is provided with a shaft 39 which is mounted in an adjustable bearing 4() carried its lower portion with a lengthwise extending slot 42 through which extends `the shaft 39.

with. a circular head 43i having its upperface toothed as` at 44. 'Formed integral with the head 43 and extending upwardly therefrom is a Vthreaded bolt 45. Y .f 2 The set of teeth or shovels 29 are carried by the portion 9 of the section 7 of thesupport ing'l frameV and the set of teeth or shovels 30Y are carriedfbyv the portion 10 of said section 7.

The discs 31 are carriedv by the portions 9 and 1.310` of the section 7. Each tooth or shovel is-v secured to the section7 by a headed bolt 46, 'ai

washer 47-having its upper face toothed and a nut 48 carriedby the bolt 46.A The portions 9 and '10 of the section 7 are provided with *openings 49 for the passage of the bolt 46.

Thefwashers 47 are'arranged below the heads 45'and the ,teeth of the .washers engageiin the teeth of `the heads. The washers 47 are mounted on the bolts 46 between the heads of .these latter and the heads 34. f The nuts'48 are ypositioned,against the upper face ofthe horizontal leg 20 of the angle barforming the forward section 7 'of the supporting frame. The teeth or shovels can be adjusted -to any .'desiredjangle with respect to the section 7,

and after adjustment, the toothed engagev ment ofthe washers 47 with the heads 34 of the teeth or shovels, after the nuts`48 lare screwed home, will maintain the teeth vor shovels in the position to which they have been angularly adjusted. jl Y Each of the hangers 41 can be adjusted onk a vertical axis to provide for the angular disposition of a disc 31 vwith respect to the forward section of the supporting frame and. after bej ing adjusted can'b'e locked in such position.

In this connectionit will be noted'that'eachv hanger` 41 is connected with the forward section 7-by a holdfastgmeans consisting of a washer 50 and a nut 51 coacting with a bolt 45. The washer 50- coa-cts .with the toothed' head 43 ofthe hanger 41..v `Thelower face of tion 7 and the head 43.

position the disc 31 at' the desired angle Ywith respect to the section the`nut51'is. screwed home and the engagement'of the teeth of the maintainV the disc31` in set position.` Thefs'ecf tion '7' isprovidedwith openings 52,'see'Figure 2, for the'passage of the bolts 45 which exwasher 50 with the teeth'of-.the/head43 will? tend upwardly from the heads ofthe hangers 41. One of said openings is arranged at Vthe forward part of the portion andthe other of said openings lat the forward part'of'the frame.f.=. A v- The holdfast devices which 'secure the conportionv 10 of the sectionv7of'the supporting necting members to the=supportingframe vextend through the bottoms ofthe side members 14 and lnofthe'section 8, see Figure 4r." Secured to thetopsioftheside members-f14l and 151' of the section -8v directly over theaxle. 1 is a pair of uprights 53, 54. i (Arranged be-'gv tween the upper endof Athe uprights 53, 54

as well as being secured therewith is 'atrans-p versely extendingjsupport; 55; Arranged rearwardly of, but in p'arallelism with the support 55, is Va transversely extending support 56. Extending between the uprights' and supports 56,'at the opposed ends 'thereof 'isA the vertically extending'upper terminal` portion 57 of a downwardly inclinedv brace member 58, having its lowerfend secured to aA '.sideimember 14 or '15, as at 59.v The upper end terminal portions 57 of theV brace VVmem! bers 58 .are fixedly secured` to the ends of the 2 n vsupport 561'and5.uprights53 and 54. bythe holdfast devices 6 t Secured atits rear,` by the holdfast devices 61, to the support55 centrally. thereof, is a forwardlyextending draft beam y62. Garried by and arranged below the beam 62 is a; .i

SPringcQDtrOlled .double tree assembly 'com'-v prising a keeper 63 of yoke shaped contour and formed at its top with oppositely extending flanges 64. Each flange 64 is secured to the beam 62 by a holdfast device 65. Extending through the keeper 63 lat the rear thereof, is a double tree 66 provided with a pair of'depending spaced lugs 67 which overlap the side edges of the bottom of the keeper A63. The doubletree 66 centrally of its forward side, is provided with a lug 68 which extends in to one Vend of a coiled controlling-spring 69 for the double tree 66.' The forward end of the keeper 63 is formed with arearwardly extending lug 7 0 which extends into the other end of the spring 69 that is tosay the forward end of said'spring. The. normal position of the double tree 66 is shown in Figure 3 and is shiftable in a direction lengthwise with respect to the keeper 63.` A single tree 71 is pivotally mounted on the'double tree at each v end .thereofas at 72. The beam 62 and dou- -taining lever 7 5 Vwhich extendsacross the beam 62 at an inclination, and has its forward end provided with an eye 76 for connection to a vertically disposed eye bolt 77 carried by or secured to the forward frame'member 16 of the Vsection 8, see Figures 1 and 2. Secured to the support 56, adjacent one side of the rear endof the beam 62 is a vertically disposed arcuate'rack bar 78 which associates with a pawl 79 carried by a shifting rod 80v therefor.- The rod 80 is pivotally connected to a lever member81 attached to the rear end of thelever 75. When the pawl or dog`79 is in engagement with the rack 70 the lever 75 is maintained in the position to which it has been'shifted. The lever 75 is provided for lifting vandloweri'ng the front of the'supporting frame. When the lever is shifted to lift the front of the supporting frame, the sec-` tion 8 is elevated, which carriesthe section 7 therewith and when the section 8 is lowered thesection7 is also carried therewith.

The lever arm 82 includes an inclined rear portion 83 which is `disposed in an opposite direction with respect to the lever 75. The lever arm 82 further includes a forward por-l tion 84 arranged underlthe beam 62 and is connected to the frontframe memberl of the section S, by the coupling device '85 and is also secured by the holdfast device 86 tothe forward Vend of the section7. The portion 83 of the lever 82 extendsupwardly atan in-V clination so as to be in convenient reach of the driver and the portion 84 of the lever 82 ex-` Pivota'llymounted in the memtion 8 ofthesupporting frame towards the section 7 thereof. See Figure 3. A

Arranged within the sectionV 8 lof the supf j porting frame is a pivoted supporting element 87 `for the chopper -or hoemember and the actuating means for the latter.` The supporting element 87 is formed from achannel. iron ofappropriate length and bent to provide a pair of side portions 88, 89 and a v front portion 90. Each? sideportion of` the;

has secured to its outer faceac'oupling member 90^and which coactswith'avertically disposed reetangulararm 91formed integralVV with the top of a'sleeve 92 'mounted on the axle 1 inwardly with respect Itofa connecting member 4 or 5. See vFigure 4. The coupling Y members 90 inconnection with the arms'19'1 and sleeves 92 provide for the s'hiftabley mounting of the supporting element-87 upon the axle 1. Thesu'pp'orting element 87' can be adjusted to regulate 'the depth of cut of the chopper or hoe member to be presently referred to, and for1'such purpose avyoke-'e shaped shifting member 93-is` provided which is pivotally mounted in the venlarged forward ends 23 ofthe arms 22.l The member93 ex-` tends throughthe openings 24;` The forward ends of theV arms lof the member 93'are provided with eyes 94' through which extendlugsj 95 projecting inwardly'from'the rear ends y one sideof section 8 and arranged forwardly ofthe axle 1 is an inwardly .extending stop' member 29. lThe upward movementof-the forward portion of the element 87 isarrested by the stop member 29 which is arrangedin` the path -ofxthe side portion88 of the supportingwelement 87.

4 Secured to the forward portion 90 Vof the supporting-elementz87 by a-'securi'ng bracket 98 isa bearing 99 whichfisv ldisposed lengthwise with' respectto the machine. The 'bearing-99 projectsforwardly and rearwardly with respect to the forward portion 90 of the supporting, element 87. Journaled `in the` bearing 99is a shaft 100 having itsfrear end provided with 'a vbeveled pinion'101and its i forward end! with a disc 102."j The pinion 101 is operated by a' beveled gear 103 which is loosely mounted on thefaxle '1 and isfadapt` ed to be coupled to thelatter in a manner to be presentlylreferred to. The disc y102 is provided with an-eccentricallydisposed pin 104 which extends transverselyofthe machine at a right angle from the shank 106 ofthe chopper or hoe member'107, the latter being nel ` upon which is loosely mountedV anarm 1 05,

secured tothe loweri end of "theshank 106 130 i greaterthan ythe end arcs thereof and such kcation travels through a swiveled guide 109 carried by an upstanding lug 110 secured Vto the front portion ofthe supporting element 87. The shank 106 intermediate its ends is provided with an eye l-1117 to'which is con-V nected a retainingbar 112.which projects rearwardly vfromvtheportion 10 of the section 7. The retaining bar 112V at its rear end isv formed with Va loop 113 which engages ythe'y eye 111 and atits forward end is provided .with the loop 113 lwhich is connected to an eye bolt 1141 carried by the portion 10 of thesection`7. Y Y n f 1 Upon the rotation ofthe disc 102, the pin 104 causes the shank 106 and arm 105 to move in an arc, and, due to the engagement ofthe shank 106 with the guide 109, the armV 105 is pivoted about the pin 104,' av sliding motion is imparted to the shank 106 through the guide 109, and a swivelin'g motionis impartedl to the latter. During the operative movement of the disc'lOQ, the angles of inclination -of the shankl 106, arm 105-and hoe member 1-07 are constantly changing, and

during a complete revolution of the disc 102,

thehoe member 107 is revolved in a vertically disposedpath .of movement transversely of the machine, and in such movement describes an ellipse having its maj or axis disposed horizontally andY its minor axis disposed verti-` cally.y VThus the upper and lower arcs of the elliptical movement -of the hoe memberV are movementsubstantially nis a simulation of the movement of a handoperated hoe. The cuttinglquality ofthe hoe member cutting edgeis enhanced due to the angular dispo-Ay sition of the hoemeinber relative vto the lon-V gitudinaland transverse medians of the machine. ,Durin'g the chopping operation vof )the hoey member 107,V arearward strain is exerted on the lower end ofthe shank 106, due tothe forward thrust-of the hoe member in contact with the ground as the machine advances inaforward direction.l This strain is taken up by the retardingbar-or radiusl rod 112 whichis of just suliicient'length to permit the hoe member to travel in yits ellip tical pathand is positioned with `respect to such path in a'manner to prevent play atY its points of connection with the eyes 111' and 114 whilethe hoefinember is traversing the lower arc yofitspath-of movement. V' The axle .1 has connectedtheretoa collar v 115 against which the hub lof the gear wheel 113 abuts.1 The hub of the' gear wheeh'indicated vzit-1.16 fisvv extended and provided with -avclutching face 117. which. associates with av rwardly with respect to bearing 27, as well as 1,899,8oeT

clutching member118 keyed tothe axle 1.

Secured to the section 8 at one sidev thereof and rearwardly with respectto axle 1, is an upstanding bearing 27'; Positioned rear-k aligning with the latter and. supported from member 13 is an upstanding bearing 28. A

' shifting lever` 119 is providedv for-moving the clutching member 118 in .enga'gementv with the clutching face117V ofthe hub 116, so as to connect the gear wheel 103V to the axle l.V whereby said gear wheel 103 will revolve with the axle 1 thereby providing for theoperaf, tion or reciprocation of the chopper. or hoe member 107.k The lever 119 is journaledrin` the bearings 27,728,7see 'Figure 3,'and isex'-A 'tended so :asto be in convenient reach of the driver of the machine, also see Figure 3. n

1V hen the, sections 71, and 8 of thesupport-`r ing frame are elevated, the cultivators are Y removed fromy the soil. Any suitable means. can be employed for retaining the lever 82 in set position and this also applies to the tread 96. 'I 1 The machine, as aforesaid, provides a newV and novelrineans for expeditiously and ef,- ficiently chopping or thinning and cultivating cotton, and therefore 4it is thought that.

the many advantages `of a machine inaccord- Y ance with this invention can `be readily un-* derstood,-andalthoughthepreferred embodi ment of theinvention is is-illustrated and' described, yet' it is to lbe understood that changes in the detailsof construction can be' had which fall within the scope of the invention as claimed. f f

VhatI claimfis :--r f 1. In a Vcotton choppingv member disposed at an angle to the longitudinal-and transverse lmedians Vof the ma f chine, a shank to `whichsaidhoe-member is,l

secured at an angleyand'means operatively,

connected with sai d shank for imparting a verticaily disposed,r revolving n movement to said hoemember transverselyvof the machine, said means including a rotatable disc mounted transversely on the machine andfhaving a ioo inachine,a hoeV y horizontal axis, an upwardly inclineda-rm f* formed on said shank at a right angle thereto, said arm extending transverselyof thema# chine, and means for pivotally connecting the outer end of said arm torsaid disc eccentrically of the latter. a Y f .Y

v2. In a cottony chopping machine, aV hoe member disposed-at an, angleto lthe -longi-v tudinal and ytransverse medians of themachine, arshank to which said hoe member is lsecured atan angle, means operatively con, necting the shank with the machine whereby a forward vmotion ofthe latter imparts" aL vertically disposed jrevolving inoveinentfto' f said hoe member Ytransversely of the machine, f

said hoe member contacting with the ground p during a Vportion vof such movement,1and a forwardly extending radius rod pivotally` massue hereto.

CLAUDIUS V. JONES. 

